Solvers’ ratings as of April 1^st 2023 produced by the Solving Tournament Manager are published on the WFCC Solving Portal.
6 tournaments of the 1^st quarter 2023 are included: 19^th International Solving Contest 2023 Cat 1, 19^th International Solving Contest 2023 Cat 2, 44^th Finnish Chess Solving Championship 2023, 28^th Dutch Open Chess Solving Championship 2023, 46^th International Polish Championship 2023, 31^st Branko Atanacković Memorial 2023.
Ranking of the top ten solvers: former World Champion Kacper Piorun overtook John Nunn and Eddy Van Beers from the 7^th to the 5^th place, and Boris Tummes passed Marko Filipović from the 11^th to the 10^th place.
Largest five gains: Arvydas Mockus, LTU (+81.89), junior Kevinas Kuznecovas, LTU (+52.36), women junior Kamila Hryshchenko, GBR (+40.05), Tomoki Kurokawa, JPN (+31.55), Andrii Sergiienko, UKR (+29.70).

In 2007, our organization accepted the idea of the famous Ukrainian Grandmaster of Chess Composition Valentin Rudenko (1938-2016) to name January 4^th as the International Day of Chess Composition. According to the proposal, on January 4th 1869, the Czech (Bohemian at that time) magazine “Svetozor” published an article by Antonín König (1836-1911) where he described chess composition as an independent form of Art.

It was, in fact, a joint proposal by Ukraine and Russia in 2007. It was accepted, but has never got an essential acceptance by the majority of WFCC member countries. In reality, the International Day of Chess Composition was mostly celebrated in the same two countries, Ukraine and Russia, with lively meeting of problemists, adding sometimes competitions to mark it. Without a wider appreciation, January 4^th was gradually losing its importance. To add to the controversy, later research in the archive of “Svetozor” has never proved the existence of that particular article, published on that particular day.

So, what would be the reasons for us to celebrate it today? We do it, not only to respect our own decision, but to glorify the greatest events and personalities from our history. No matter what day we may choose, it is a historical fact that Antonín König – a well known painter, illustrator, and chess player – promoted chess composition as equal to other forms of art, and founded the Bohemian school, the first attempt to define aesthetic models on the chess board.

It’s also well known that magazine “Svetozor” served as a high platform for that. Surfing through its old archive, you may be amazed to see that chess problems were the main, if not the only, content of the Chess column of that magazine. We should proudly recall how it was 150 years ago, and use every possible reason to celebrate our existence and unity.

Marjan Kovačević,
WFCC President